GoFundMe shuts down lung cancer patient's account

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When Shanna-Kaye Scarlett found out that her mother had stage-four lung cancer about four years ago, she was devastated.

The law student told THE STAR her mother, Janet Hunter, also has pneumonia and has to use an oxygen tank. To seek medical attention for her in Cuba, Scarlett created a GoFundMe page to raise US$20,000 that has to be paid in full before she is accepted. But this page was terminated recently without a full explanation.

"When I logged in, I saw a note that I have to check my email as the account had been disabled. I was like 'What'? They said that they are no longer supporting this campaign because I violated this and that. To be honest, probably my mistake was the fact that I didn't read the fine print when signing up, but no one does! I'm still not a 100 per cent sure what happened because they told me that I need a licence from the United States Government and I asked them how I go about getting it; I got no response." Hunter told THE STAR that her illness has her feeling very frail.

Can't go forward

"All I do in the days is just sit down, I can't go anywhere. If I have to use the bathroom, I have to carry the tank with me ... I can't breathe on my own. I'm 46 and feel like an 80 year-old woman. I can only eat soft food. Right now I would really appreciate some help. Please see what you can do fi help me," said the Westmoreland resident. Scarlett said she contacted an organisation named Cuba Heals, but officials said they can't go forward with treatment because they don't know what kind of lung cancer she has.

Another major setback is that Scarlett is yet to receive a full medical report from the Savanna-la-Mar Hospital. But hospital official Roan Grant told THE STAR that he will personally handle this case.

"I'm sorry to hear of the experience the young lady had. Please have her send me a fax, being that she is overseas; and have someone come in to sign the consent form to get things up and running. But if somebody is applying for a medical report, they have to request it in detail because if they ask for a regular report, they will only get a summary or synopsis of what's going on," he said.